


Pumpkins

by ReluctantMandalore



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Halloween, Pumpkin carving, family fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:28:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27345844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReluctantMandalore/pseuds/ReluctantMandalore
Summary: The Mandalorian decides that one of the perfect ways to celebrate the child’s first Halloween is to get some pumpkins and carve them together!
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	Pumpkins

One of the most shining features of Halloween were the pumpkins attached to the holiday, and the Mandalorian knew this quite well. So, when he had decided to celebrate the holiday with the child for the first time, he determined it would be a good idea to go pumpkin picking and to bring some back to make into Jack-O’-Lanterns with the child. 

To his surprise, it turned out much easier than expected to find a farmer who had a pumpkin patch and was also willing to let them pick some out. He had thanked the woman, promising to pay her for the troubles no matter how much she insisted otherwise. Only then, did he allow for the child to run through the fields and find himself a pumpkin of his own. 

The Mandalorian lurked closely behind, watching as the child went to each and every pumpkin to inspect them. He had noted a few himself, looking at them and wondering if he should bring more than one home with them. He was pulled from his thoughts though, by the sound of some loud chattering from the child, which made him look over to where the little one was approaching him with a bright orange pumpkin in his grasp.

The child had rolled the lumpy pumpkin over to his adoptive father, babbling happily as he showed off the pumpkin he had picked out all on his own. The little one had beamed as he watched the man look over the orange fruit, his excitement over the whole ordeal evident in his tiny features. 

Out of all the pumpkins, the child couldn’t have picked a worse one. It was lumpy with disgustingly discoloured patches all along the surface and compared to the others, it was relatively small in size. It definitely wasn’t the prettiest pumpkin in the world, and would probably be difficult to carve into later on. 

The Mandalorian had frowned underneath the helmet as he took in the sight of it. Not wanting to say no to the pumpkin that the child had spent hours picking out, but also not wanting to risk any issues with the carving. 

“Ad’ika…” He trailed off, fondly looking down at the child, “we might want a more round pumpkin—like this one.” 

Din had leaned down so he was leveled with the child, holding out the more appealing pumpkin out towards the little one. The child tilted his head in wonder at the pumpkin, as if he was considering what the Mandalorian had said. Din had nearly rolled his eyes when the child turned back to his own and tapped it in excitement. 

Clearly the child didn’t plan on taking any other pumpkin home than the one he had picked out himself. Din had sighed, but smiled, picking up the pumpkin that the child was insisting on taking, and holding both in his arms. 

“Well…I guess we can just take both.” 

So, with the two pumpkins in hand, the Mandalorian and the child made their way back home, thanking the kind farmer again before leaving. The entire walk back, the child had practically skipped, looking up at the pumpkins which his father carried. His ears perked up in interest as the man spoke to the little one about carving them into Jack-O’-Lanterns once they returned. 

When they finally reached the Razor Crest, Din set the two pumpkins on the table and then went to look through a hatch to find some tools to help with the carving. Returning to the table, he was met with the sight of the child sitting on one of the chairs, rubbing his little hands over the surface of the lumpy pumpkin he had picked earlier. 

The sight had made the Mandalorian chuckle—giving the child a fond rub on his one ear—before getting to work cutting open and gutting the pumpkin. The foundling had watched with unbound curiosity as the man went about scooping the seeds and goop from inside the pumpkins, placing both into a bowl to be separated later. 

The child, in his fifty years of life, had never seen or experienced such a thing before. Soon, his tiny fingers were picking up one of the seeds out of the mush excitedly. He had then brought the little seed up to his nose, sniffing it before deciding to try a taste for himself. 

“Ah, don’t eat those yet,” Din had said, taking the pumpkin seed from the child’s grasp, “We can roast them and eat them later, ok?” 

The child blinked at him in wonder at his words, titling his head as he watched the armored covered man go back to work at removing the pumpkins insides and preparing them for cutting. When the Mandalorian finished, he tilted the pumpkins to show the child, who let out a sound of admiration at the sight of the smooth interior. 

“Remember the designs we came up with earlier?” He said, pulling out the drawings they had done, “Now we need to cut the pumpkins to look like them.” 

The child titled his head, confusion dancing across his features, as he stared at the Mandalorian. 

“Don’t worry I’ll show you,” the bounty hunter smiled, giving a small pat on the child’s head, “You can’t use the knife anyway.” 

The rest of the afternoon was spent with the Mandalorian and the child carving out their designs into the pumpkins. The child had giggled and laughed for the majority of it, as the man told him about the other Halloween traditions they would be doing that night. The child’s ears perking up again at the mention of all the candy he would get from Trick or Treating, which amused the hunter who sat next to him greatly. 

After cleaning up the mess the two had made of the table, the Mandalorian looked over the carvings, and fixed any of the odd or choppy corners he found. He had wanted them to be flawless when the child saw them—it was the little one’s first Halloween after all, and to Din that made it a special occasion worth making perfect. 

Din had trailed his fingers over the design that the child had come up with, a carving of his own helmet staring back at him on the pumpkins surface. He smiled fondly at the image, his heart swelling with pride from the thought of the child wanting to carve an image of him into the pumpkin. In return, his own pumpkin had been carved with a depiction of the child in mind—creating the most perfect Jack-O’-Lantern duo he had ever seen. 

Satisfied with the appearance of their carvings, he went to go find the candles and matches he had stored away, returning to light the candles inside of the pumpkins. He allowed for the flames to flicker for a few seconds before closing the tops once more. The Mandalorian gave a nod of approval to the illuminated carvings. He picked up the child soon after, holding him at a height where he could better see the lit Jack-O’-Lanterns in all their glory. 

At the sight of the now shining pumpkins, the child had grinned and began babbling in gibberish excitedly while held in his father's arms. The Mandalorian had smiled as well, happy to see the joy which the little one was experiencing as they viewed the Jack-O’-Lanterns. 

Later, Din would set both of their pumpkins out into the evening air, allowing for others to take in their shimmering glow. For now though, the fearsome bounty hunter left them in place for his foundling to view, both of them excitedly getting ready to celebrate their first night of Halloween together.


End file.
